Colchicine, chemical name (−)-N-[(7S,12aS)-1,2,3,10-tetramethoxy-9-oxo-5,6,7,9-tetrahydrobenzo[a]heptalen-7-yl]-acetamide, is an alkaloid found in extracts of Colchicum autumnale, Gloriosa superba, and other plants. It is a microtubule-disrupting agent used in the treatment of conditions that may be treated, relieved or prevented with anti-inflammatory treatment.
Colchicine is well recognized as a valid therapy in acute flares of gouty arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), Behçet's disease. It has also been used to treat many inflammatory disorders prone to fibrosis. In the recent past, colchicine has been proposed to be effective in therapy in cardiovascular diseases.
In particular, colchicine has been proposed as a first treatment option for recurrent pericarditis (class I indication) and optional for acute pericarditis (class IIa indication) in the 2004 European guidelines on the management of pericardial diseases (Maisch et al., Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Pericardial Diseases, Eur Heart J., 2004, 25, 916-928).
Imazio et al. (Circulation, 2005, 112 (13), 2012-2016) showed that colchicine was effective for the treatment and the prevention of recurrent pericarditis in a prospective, randomized, open-label designed study of 120 patients with a first episode of acute pericarditis (idiopathic, viral, postpericardiotomy syndromes, and connective tissue diseases), who were randomly assigned to conventional treatment with aspirin or conventional treatment plus colchicine (1.0 to 2.0 mg for the first day and then 0.5 to 1.0 mg/day for 3 months). The primary end point was recurrence rate, which was significantly reduced from 32.3% down to 10.7% at 18 months in the colchicine group (p=0.004).
Further, the same group showed that colchicine could be efficient after conventional treatment failure to manage acute pericarditis (Imazio at al., Arch InternMed, 2005, 165 (17), 1987-91). In a prospective, randomized, open-label design, 84 consecutive patients with a first episode of recurrent pericarditis were randomly assigned to receive conventional treatment with aspirin alone or conventional treatment plus colchicine (1.0-2.0 mg the first day and then 0.5-1.0 mg/d for 6 months). The primary end point was the recurrence rate, which was significantly decreased in the colchicine group (actuarial rates at 18 months were 24.0% vs 50.6% with conventional treatment).
It has also been shown that colchicine is effective for secondary prevention of recurrent pericarditis Imazio et al., Ann. Intern. Med., 2011, 155 (7), 409-14). Colchicine has also been proposed to reduce postpericardiotomy reactions revealed as pericarditis (Imazio et al., Am. Heart J., 2011, 162 (3), 527-532; Meurin and Tabet, Arch. Cardiovasc. Dis., 2011, 104 (8-9), 425-427).
Colchicine for the treatment of post-pericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) was tested for the first time in a preliminary prospective, open-label, randomized trial of colchicine (1.5 mg/day) compared with placebo beginning on the third post-operative day in 163 patients who underwent cardiac surgery (Finkelstein et al., Herz, 2002 27, 791-194).
The effectiveness of colchicine for the prevention of PPS has also been shown in a multicentre, double-blind, randomized trial, in which 360 patients (mean age 65.7+12.3 years, 66% males), 180 in each treatment arm, were randomized to receive placebo or colchicine (1.0 mg twice daily for the first day followed by a maintenance dose of 0.5 mg twice daily for 1 month in patients≥70 kg, and halved doses for patients, 70 kg or intolerant to the highest dose) on the third post-operative day (Imazio et al., European Heart Journal, 2010, 31, 2749-2754).
In another study, the effectiveness of colchicine has been shown for cardiovascular disease. In this clinical trial with a prospective, randomized, observer-blinded endpoint design, 532 patients with stable coronary disease receiving aspirin and/or clopidogrel (93%) and statins (95%) were randomly assigned colchicine 0.5 mg/day or no colchicine and followed for a median of 3 years (Nidorf et al., JACC, 2013, 61 (4), 404-410). This study showed that colchicine 0.5 mg/day administered in addition to statins and other standard secondary prevention therapies appeared effective for the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with stable coronary disease.
For the treatment of gout, the recommended dose of colchicine (COLCRYS®) is 1.8 mg/day in one or multiple doses in one hour. For adults with gout, treatment is initiated with a dose of 1.2 mg at the first sign of symptoms followed by 0.6 mg one hour later. (Physician's Desk Reference, 68th ed., (2014)).
COLCRYS® is an immediate release formulation. Adverse effects associated with the administration of COLCRYS® include, but are not limited to, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, hair loss, weakness, nerve irritation, severe anemia, low white blood counts, and low platelets (Physician's Desk Reference, 68th ed., (2014)).
The instant invention addresses these and other needs by providing a modified formulation of colchicine characterized by a sustained release of an active ingredient. This invention additionally provides an effective, once-daily dosage form of colchicine or salts thereof, which may improve patient compliance and also may reduce some of the side effects of colchicine compared to the current or higher daily doses of immediate release colchicine formulations.